Department of Biology

The 21st century will be the age of biology, extending a century-long revolution in the biological sciences, with the future quality of human existence being strongly dependent on future advances in the life sciences. Key historic developments in agriculture, medicine, and technology have reduced human mortality rates, causing a human population explosion. This, in turn, has driven accelerating demands for basic and applied biological knowledge, particularly in cellular-molecular-and-developmental-biology with implications for medicine, agriculture, genetic engineering, and forensic science; and in evolution-and-ecology with implications for the conservation of natural resources and restoration of ecosystems severely disturbed by human activities.

Demand for undergraduate programs in biology has been increasing and will continue to do so because of a vital need for graduates with focus and training in the biological sciences, particularly in the core areas related to medicine, cellular-molecular-and-developmental-biology, and evolution-and-ecology.